`MONSTERS: Ta-Awi

 

Image created using Imagine Ai

Ta-Awi is an ogre-like creature in the Philippines. The creature has a body bigger than an ordinary man but despite the size, they are very agile. They are described as being very ugly and their voice is very thunderous. Their voice is so thunderous that it would terrify Maranao hunters. 

Ta-Awi is known to raid villages and devour people alive. They avoid eating the eyes as for some reason they cannot digest them.

SOURCES:

Art and Fiction + Philippine Folklore and Mythologies

Cryptid Wiki

Myth and Folklore Wiki

Myth Museum

MONSTERS: Tiyanak

 

Photo by Sebastian Unrau

The Tiyanak is a vampiric creature in Philippine history. The Tiyank are babies who are offsprings of a woman and demon, babies who died before receiving baptism, aborted fetuses, and or babies born in a coffin birth. It is said that the Tiyanak lives in the forests. 

They will transform into normal-looking babies and cry trying to attract a human to their aid. When a human finds it the tiyanak will transform back to its demon form and attack its prey, most likely eating it. If becoming prey to a Tiyanak the best way to survive is to turn your clothes inside out. The Tiyanak will find it funny and release you.

The looks of the Tyanak's form differ from story to story. One says that it stays the same as a normal baby, but grows fangs and claws. Another is that it shares similarities with dwarves and its true form is a wrinkled old man with a long beard, mustache, a flat nose, and eyes the size of pesta coins, and the reason it takes the form of a baby is because of its difficulty hunting due to uneven legs. Another story is said to fly through the forest as a baby and can transform into a blackbird. Another version from Pampanga it's described as a small, nut-brown person with large noses, wide mouths, large fierce eyes, and sharp voices and they float instead of walk.


SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mythical Creatures Guide

Boogeyman Wiki